Fish Finder Training – Screenshots & Interpretations

[J-Doc]

Should be able to pop it in a card reader or your computer and use it like a flash drive.

Micro SD? Or SD card? Doesn't matter really, you just need a card reader or a computer with a built in card reader for SD cards (laptop).

I have a micro SD so I bought a 2gig micro SD card that came with an SD card adapter.

Looking forward to some new screenshots!!

[J-Doc]

So before we analyze new screenshots, here's a good topic for discussion and education.

Rock or fish?

If fish, what kind?

If I had a dollar for every time I saw a blob on the bottom thinking it was a rock or rock pile or a catfish because catfish are "bottom feeders". I could probably buy a nice new St. Croix rod! Lol!

I was fortunate enough to have a local guide teach me dropshotting one day. I learned note about reading a graph than the technique itself as the graph is the key.

We found lots of bass pile up tight together in little groups on points, flats, rock piles, etc. All of the fish we caught out of 50+ fish that day were all on the bottom. NONE were catfish a either.

You have a color graph?

Good! The more dense an object, the darker the color (I may have that backwards as I'm basising this on memory). If you see a blob on the bottom that's red/yellow mix, its fish. If its a long arch on the bottom, its fish. If its a series of echoes on the bottom tight together, its fish. The way you can tell if its a rock is consistent color through tout as its a very dense object.

No color graph?

Same principle applied in gray tones. The better quality graph you have, the easier it is to differentiate fish from rock on the bottom.

Also, look for little "blips" or noise on the backside of humps, ledges, drops, trees, etc. Those are fish 90% of the time. Right where the drop occurs or a hump drops off, you see blips or mixed arches. Those are typically fish relating to the drop or adjacent structure.

Find a small hole? There's probably fish in it. This is great on flats because if the terrain is flat, if you find a stump, a rock, a hole, etc, its going to consistently hold fish every year if water levels are the same.

[nathanhooper]

I like your topic here about bottom structure/fish. It is one key benefit to having a color unit. The grey scale will sometimes show these things well, but not like a color one will.

I'd love to hear thoughts on this. The only way to get the actual pictures from this card is to use lowrance's program, then take a screen shot, put it in paint, then save it to file. Works, but man I wish there was an easier way.

It also does not show depth unless you put the cursor over it, but it does not show up on the screen. Whenever I post a pic I will label the depth to hopefully get a better idea of the picture.

Depth is 32'

What are they? I would love to know if there is a way of determining the size of the fish based on the arches. I know it varies for a given depth, and then it would also vary based on screen size. But surely there is a way? I know these fish did not seem to want any baby bluegills I had dangling down there for them.

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

OK, gotta say the idea of the thead is nothing short of great. Now for the total novice, who bought a $20.00 fish/depth finder off of craigslist. Mine is a Fishing Buddy, or something of the sort. It all looks like the ultra sound picture that people get of thier babies ( I have a few). I could never make out what was being shown to me, maybe I'm just a lost cause.

What would be benificial to me, and maybe others, is a before and after picture. The before with no notations, and the after with the items in question circled, x-ed, or something to make it clearer.

I mainly got mine to see how deep the creek is while I fish in it when I have time, ha ha.

[Bird Watcher]

are you bouncing your bait off the bottom here?

[Bird Watcher]

are you bouncing your bait off the bottom here?

@nathanhooper

[Feathers and Fins]

Place SD card in the Machine.... Go to menu then menu then screenshot then press power at anytime to get it....Be sure to do same process to turn off.... Saves as PNG put on your PC go to your phot program and save as a jpg and you are done.

Or my favorite way. Take a pic with your phones send to Facebook and then copy and paste the property and post.

[Feathers and Fins]

My interpit

[J-Doc]

Here is my brief interpretation.

F&F taught me that striper make shorter/fatter arches and gar are the long skinny arches like shown below.

Also, whites and hybrids stay grouped together tightly.

[J-Doc]

And then again.........

I am still learning. :-) I think F&F may have it right above. He beat me to it. I still think what he says is a bass may be a striper or big hybrid though.

Why?

Look at my non-color graph shot earlier where there is a large school of stripers. They have the same arch pattern as what I marked as a striper.